Metal-to-Semimetal Transition in Platinum Nanotubes: Dependence on Thickness

The temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity of Pt nanotubes (NTs) with different thicknesses synthesized by a wetting method using an Al₂O₃ membrane was studied. Pt NTs exhibited circular pores with an average diameter of ∼200 nm. From XRD, the prepared Pt NTs displayed a cubic crystal structure. Pt metal was identified based on the binding energy peak at 71 eV via XPS analysis. Pt NTs with thicknesses of 5 and 12 nm behaved like a semimetal, whereas Pt NTs with thicknesses of 25 and 29 nm showed normal metallic electrical conduction characteristics. This metal-to-semimetal transition was induced as the thickness and grain sizes of the Pt NTs were decreased. The critical metal-to-semimetal transition temperature of Pt NTs with average tube wall thicknesses of ∼5 nm was measured at ∼37 °C. However, the critical temperature could not be measured for NTs with a thickness of 12 nm. It is assumed that the critical temperature would be far below 0 °C. This transition behavior resulted from both a discontinuity in the density of states due to the quantum confinement effect and the increased energy barrier for conduction of electrons accompanied by the increased density of grain boundaries. These results presented here signify a vital step in the direction of realizing high-performance nanoelectronic devices.